Development of an interstitial cystitis risk score for bladder permeability

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Biomarker Discovery
• Pain Management

Background:

• Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC) is a complex condition causing pelvic pain and urinary dysfunction.
• A subset of IC patients exhibits Hunner's lesions (UIC), diagnosed via painful cystoscopy.
• Current diagnostic methods for UIC can be invasive and uncomfortable for patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel Bladder Permeability Defect Risk Score (BP-RS) for identifying UIC.
• To determine if BP-RS, based on urinary cytokines, can differentiate UIC patients from controls and non-ulcer IC patients.
• To establish a non-invasive method for assessing bladder permeability defects.

Main Methods:

• A national crowdsourcing initiative collected urine samples from IC patients and age-matched controls.
• Urinary cytokine levels (GRO, IL-6, IL-8) were measured using Luminex assay.
• A BP-RS was calculated to assess bladder permeability defect risk.

Main Results:

• 448 urine samples were analyzed from 153 IC patients (including 54 UIC) and 295 controls.
• The calculated BP-RS demonstrated 89% validity in classifying UIC patients.
• The study successfully discriminated UIC patients from other groups using the BP-RS.

Conclusions:

• The BP-RS is a validated urine biomarker assay for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.
• This score quantifies UIC risk, indicating a bladder permeability defect in a subset of IC patients.
• BP-RS offers a promising non-invasive tool for diagnosing UIC and assessing bladder permeability.